Needle-beds for domestic knitting machines



June 10, 1969 s. H. GROOM NEEDLE-BEDS FOR DOMESTIC KNITTING MACHINES Fi-led March so. 196'? AWE/woe Patented June 10, 1969 3,448,593 NEEDLE-BEDS FOR DOMESTIC KNITTING MACHINES Simeon H. Groom, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa, assignor to Empisal (Proprietary) Limited, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa Filed Mar. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 627,189 Claims priority, application Republic of South Africa, Apr. 1, 1966, 1,920/66 Int. Cl. D04b 15/10 US. Cl. 66-115 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The needle-bed of a domestic knitting machine is made up of a series of cross-members secured to a base plate and located between two parallel spaced flanges standing up from the base, each member being individually removable from the assembly, and the cross-members being held in place by locking means acting on them collectively. Forward movement of the needles is limited by a stop surface.

This invention relates to needle-beds for domestic knitting machines which provide guide means for a series of parallel, reciprocable needles, each having an upstanding butt that is exposed above the general contour of the bed to be contacted by a cam-slide reciprocable along the length of the bed.

The aspect of the bed with which this invention is concerned is the mounting of the needles. Conventionally, the bed is made of fairly thin sheet metal which is provided with parallel flanges extending longitudinally, that are integral with the base of the bed or are separate from it but secured as by Welding to it, and that provide registering series of holes Within which the needles are slidably received. These holes guide the needles axially, but it is also necessary to prevent them from rotating for the latches and the butts to remain correctly presented. To this end, the base is usually formed with a series of parallel, lateral cuts, and the regions of the base flanking the cuts are pressed out to form pairs of opposed walls within which the needles slide and which maintain the butts of the needles upright and therefore orient the needles correctly. Needle beds of this sort are necessarily made of thin material to enable the pressing operation to be carried out without undue force being required, and, although the pressed out parts stiffen the structure as a whole, the bed is still sufficiently flimsy to require a backing plate. There is the further disadvantage that, if the bed becomes distorted in use, or the needle guides are damaged, the entire bed must usually be replaced, which requires workshop facilities and is expensive.

The object of this invention is to provide a needle-bed construction which produces a bed that is considerably more robust than the conventional bed, without uneconomic increase in cost, and which, in its preferred form, oflers the facility of easy replacement of damaged parts.

One aspect of the invention provides a needle-bed for a domestic knitting machine, comprising a base, flanges projecting upwardly from the base and formed with a series of registering holes adapted to accommodate for reciprocating movement a series of needles that have up standing butts, a series of cross members extending between the flanges and defining a series of parallel slots to receive and guide the butts of the needles, and locking means acting on the cross members in common to support them firmly, the locking means being displaceable to permit removal and replaceent of any individual cross member.

Another aspect of the invention provides a needle-bed for a domestic knitting machine, comprising a base, flanges projecting upwardly from the base and formed with a series of registering holes to guide needles of the bed for reciprocating movement, and a series of cross members secured between the flanges and defining a series of parallel slots for upstanding butts on needles reciprocably guided within the holes in the flanges, a displaceable stop surface being provided to limit the forward movement of each needle to an extreme position in which the rear end of the needle remains in the hole of a rear flange in which it slides, displacement of the stop surface permitting further forward movement of the needle suflicient to clear the hole in the rear flange.

An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view through a needle-bed of a domestic knitting machine;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view from above the bed of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of one form of cross member for the bed of FIGURES 1 and 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an alternative cross member.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG- URES 1, 2 and 3, the rear flange 10 is integral with the base 12 and is formed with a return 14 to stiffen the base. The forward flange 16 is provided by a plate riveted or welded to the base. The forward flange is also formed with a return 18 that extends towards the rear flange 10 and which is bent downwardly at its free edge to provide a face, normal to the base and directed towards the rear flange.

This face, and the rear flange are formed with registering series of slots 22 which receive the forward and rear ends, respectively, of a series of cross members 24 spaced apart to receive and guide the butt 26 of a needle between each pair. The members are permitted limited endwise movement when they are engaged in the slots, sufiicient for each of them to be slid into one slot, at one end, with the member tilted and then brought into parallelism with the base and slid endwise for engagement of the other end of the second slot. When thus engaged, the axial movement of the members is inhibited by a locking bar 28 that is introduced in the longitudinal direction of the bed and engages a shoulder on each of the members to immobilise it.

The locking bar is guided for sliding movement, above the needles, and it has the function, additionally to that of immobilising the members 24 of constituting the stop surface which prescribes the forward limit of movement of the needles by engagement with their butts.

In a needle bed made as above described, considerable rigidity is imparted to the bed by the presence of the series of cross members 24 along the length of the bed. The base itself can therefore be made of fairly thin metal. it can also be stiffened by pressing a series of tongues 30 upwardly in the bed, each underlying one of the cross members. Apart from the stiffening function, the tongues support the members against sag and allow the slots in the forward flange 16 to be open-ended.

As long as the needle bed continues to be in good repair, it requires no attention. If, however, a needle should be bent or should break, the locking bar 28 is slid endwise in its guides, until it clears the needle, when the latter can be moved forwardly sufficiently far to free its rear end from the guide hole 22 in the flange 10. The needle can then be tipped to allow it to be withdrawn from the bed, and a replacement needle is brought into position by the reverse procedure.

Similarly, if one of the cross members 24 should need replacement, the locking bar 28 is moved endwise to clear it, and the member may be slid endwise to free one end, and tilted to free the other; and a replacement member installed, whereupon the locking bar is slid back into normal position.

The Cross members may be molded from plastic material, or made from sheet metal strip back on themselves, or from solid metal, or indeed of any suitable material. Further, the members may each extend forwardly beyond the front flange 16, as shown in FIGURE 4, to provide gates 32 to take the place of the gates 34 which, in FIGURES l to 3, are integral with the base plate 12.

I claim:

1. A needle-bed for a domestic knitting machine, comprising a base, flanges projecting upwardly from the base and formed with a series of registering holes adapted to accommodate for reciprocating movement a series of needles that have upstanding butts; a series of cross members extending between the flanges and defining a series of parallel slots to receive and guide the butts of the needles; and locking means acting on the cross members in common to support them firmly, the locking means being displaceable to permit removal and replacement of any individual cross member.

2. A needle-bed for a domestic knitting machine, comprising a base, flanges projecting upwardly from the base and formed with a series of registering holes to guide needles of the bed for reciprocating movement, a series of cross members secured between the flanges and defining a series of parallel slots for upstanding butts on needles reciprocably guided within the holes of the flanges, and means having a displaceable stop surface to limit the for ward movement of each needle to an extreme position in which the rear end of the needle remains in the hole of a rear flange in which it slides, displacement of the stop surface means permitting further forward movement of the needle sufficient to clear the hole in the rear flange.

3. A needle-bed as claimed in claim 2, in which each cross member i removable from the bed to permit its replacement.

4. A needle-bed as claimed in claim 1, in which the cross members are supported in registering formations in the flanges, the locking means being a bar extending transversely of the cross members to wedge them in the registering formations, the bar being slidably displaceable to free the cross members for removal.

FOREIGN PATENTS 12/ 1959 Great Britain. 8/ 1958 Switzerland.

WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner. 

